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Yvette Marie Dostatni | “The Weirder Side of Convention Centers,” The New Yorker

From Jonathan Blaustein’s article from The New Yorker:

It was during that period, while canvassing far-flung neighborhoods and flitting among Memorial Day barbecues, searching out scenes of everyday life in the city, that Dostatni stumbled upon the annual leather-daddy competition International Mr. Leather. Her experience of that event laid the groundwork for a long-term personal project called “The Conventioneers,” a look inside the many esoteric conventions that take place in the Chicago area each year. At centers like McCormick Place, in the heart of the city, and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, out by O’Hare airport, she has hung around gatherings of Abe Lincoln impersonators, Godzilla fans, taxidermists, pimps, and bikers, among others, producing portraits that cheekily showcase each subculture’s idiosyncrasies without ogling or making fun.